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Introduction

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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

(1732–99). Many United States presidents were honored for their great achievements, and George Washington’s achievements distinguished him as the Father of His Country. Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, chairman of the convention that wrote the United States Constitution, and the first president of the United States. He led the people who transformed the United States from a British colony into a self-governing nation. His ideals of liberty and democracy set a standard for future presidents and for the entire country.

Early Life

National Park Service

In 1657 John Washington, George Washington’s great-grandfather, came to Virginia from England. John obtained a grant of 150 acres (61 hectares) in Westmoreland county on the Potomac River. He soon saw a future in the wilderness upriver. In 1674 John secured a second grant of 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of what is now Washington, D.C., where he established the Wakefield plantation for his family.

John’s grandson, Augustine Washington, also was a prosperous landowner. Augustine managed farms, businesses, and mines. Augustine added to the Wakefield plantation until it included the entire peninsula between Popes Creek and Bridges Creek, small streams emptying into the Potomac River.

Augustine’s first wife died in 1730, and the following year he married Mary Ball. Their first child, George Washington, was born on February 22 (February 11 on the calendar used then), 1732, on the Wakefield plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The couple had five more children—Elizabeth, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred (who died in infancy). George also had two older half brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, children from Augustine’s first marriage.

In 1735 the Washington family moved further up the Potomac River to the Epsewasson (Little Hunting Creek) plantation, named after the stream it faced. A few years later they moved to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia. Ferry Farm was the setting of George’s boyhood adventures described by Mason Locke Weems in his book The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington (1800). According to Weems, George chopped down a cherry tree with a hatchet and later admitted it to his father, stating that he could not tell a lie. Weems also related how George threw a stone across the Rappahannock River, but it is unknown whether or not these stories are based on facts.

George’s father died in 1743, and his property was divided among his nearest heirs. Ferry Farm was left to George’s mother, Mary Ball Washington. George’s half brother, Lawrence, inherited Epsewasson, and his other half brother, Augustine, inherited Wakefield. Lawrence married Anne Fairfax, a neighbor, and added her adjoining land to the property at Epsewasson. He renamed the estate Mount Vernon, in honor of Adm. Edward Vernon, the British naval officer under whom he served in the West Indies.

After his father’s death, George went to live with Augustine at Wakefield and attended Henry Williams’s school, one of the best schools in Virginia. By age 15 George was skilled in mathematics and mapmaking and developed an interest in practical surveying.

Old Times in the Colonies, by Charles Carleton Coffin, 1881

In 1748 George went to live with his other half brother, Lawrence, at Mount Vernon. There he met Lord Thomas Fairfax, a cousin of Anne Fairfax. Lord Fairfax owned more than five million acres (two million hectares) in Virginia, and he hired George to help survey his land beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Surveying was difficult and dangerous work, but George adapted well and excelled at his new profession. On July 20, 1749, through Lord Fairfax’s influence, George Washington was appointed surveyor of Culpeper county, his first public office. Through his experiences as a surveyor, Washington became more knowledgeable and resourceful about the land and gained an enthusiasm for colonizing the West.

French and Indian War

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During the years he lived with Lawrence and his family at Mount Vernon, Washington heard many stories of his brother’s experiences in the British Navy. These tales inspired Washington to pursue a military career. When Lawrence died in July 1752, Washington inherited Mount Vernon, thus becoming a landowner. In November 1752 Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia appointed Washington adjutant, or assistant, officer for the southern district of Virginia. The following year, Dinwiddie made Washington a major of an army militia and sent him with a message to the French commander of Fort Le Boeuf (now Waterford, Pennsylvania). The message demanded that the French abandon their forts on the British territory between Lake Ontario and the Ohio River. Washington delivered the message and returned to Virginia in January 1754 with a full report on the French army’s plan to take possession of the Ohio River valley. After studying Washington’s report, Dinwiddie convinced the British government that the French posed a serious threat to the British colonies. Washington’s perilous journey had taken 10 weeks, and twice he nearly lost his life. Once, a Native American shot at him from close range; a few days later, Washington was thrown from a raft into an ice-filled stream.

In April 1754 Washington was made lieutenant colonel of the militia. He was ordered to lead nearly 200 troops to take possession of Fort Duquesne, which was located in the Ohio River valley where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet. The French had a strong hold on Fort Duquesne, and Washington’s small militia was unable to overtake the fort. He located an area nearby at Great Meadows (now Confluence, Pennsylvania) and built Fort Necessity for his army. On May 28, 1754, Washington’s troops and their Native American allies ambushed and killed or captured all of a French scouting party near Fort Necessity. The French commander, Coulon de Jumonville, was killed in the attack, and this encounter contributed to the start of the French and Indian War.

Washington’s skillful maneuvers in the ambush against the French scouting party was recognized by his superior officers, and he was immediately promoted to colonel. He was given command of a small army of Virginia and North Carolina troops and Native American allies. In July 1754 Washington’s troops attacked the French forces at Fort Duquesne, but the French and the Native Americans loyal to the French outnumbered them and forced Washington to surrender. The French allowed Washington’s army to return to Virginia after he released the French prisoners of war. Despite his defeat, Washington was commended for his valiant efforts against the French by the Virginia House of Burgesses, the representative assembly in colonial Virginia.

In February 1755 Washington was sent to serve as aide to British Maj. Gen. Edward Braddock in another offensive against Fort Duquesne. Braddock acknowledged and respected Washington’s merit and leadership abilities. He allowed Washington to advise and express his opinions on military strategies. On July 9, 1755, French forces ambushed and defeated Braddock’s forces, and Braddock was killed in the battle. Washington displayed initiative and poise as he assembled the remaining troops and led them back to Virginia.

In August 1755 Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie appointed Washington commander of all Virginia militia forces. Virginia expanded its forces to 1,000 soldiers, and Washington directed the patrols and defense of the entire 400-mile (640-kilometer) western frontier. In 1758 Washington accompanied British Gen. John Forbes and finally defeated the French at Fort Duquesne, which was burned to the ground by the retreating French troops. Forbes established Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) on the site, and Washington resigned from the army with the honorary rank of brigadier general. While serving in the final campaign against Fort Duquesne, Washington was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

Entry into Politics

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-pga-01447)

On January 6, 1759, Washington married a young widow, Martha Dandridge Custis. Martha had two children from her previous marriage—a son named John and a daughter, Martha, who was called Patsy. The Custis estate covered nearly 15,000 acres (6,000 hectares) of land near Williamsburg, Virginia. From the time of his marriage, Washington supervised both Mount Vernon and the Custis estate, thus becoming one of the wealthiest and most industrious landowners in Virginia. In addition to the prosperous farming, planting, and industry on his estates, Washington continued to serve in the Virginia House of Burgesses. During its sessions, Washington attended dances and banquets hosted by other members of Virginia’s aristocracy, and in return, he hosted picnics and dinner parties at Mount Vernon.

After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Great Britain was in debt as a result of war expenditures. A stronger British military was needed to protect the increased British possessions in the colonies acquired during the war. Parliament, the legislative body of Great Britain’s government, implemented several acts aimed at generating revenue from the colonies to alleviate these costs. The Stamp Act of 1765 imposed a tax on newspapers, legal documents, and other business papers. The colonists considered this act an intrusion on their rights, and Great Britain repealed it in 1766. However, Great Britain continued to regulate the colonies in matters of taxation and legislation with the Townshend Acts of 1767, which placed taxes on imported British commodities. In April 1769 Washington presented a plan to the House of Burgesses for boycotting British-made goods.

Hostilities between the colonists and the British government escalated after the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers fired on a group of angry citizens in Boston who were threatening the soldiers. Colonists protested vehemently over British taxation without colonial representation in Parliament. On December 16, 1773, a group of colonists threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest a tea tax. This rebellion, known as the Boston Tea Party, prompted Great Britain to retaliate by passing the Intolerable Acts in 1774. These acts were a series of punitive laws directed against the colonies; among other things, they called for the closing of Boston Harbor and the installation of a military government in Massachusetts. The acts also forced the colonists to provide housing for British troops in colonial dwellings.

Washington’s political career expanded as dissension grew between the colonists and Great Britain. He believed that the British had attacked the rights of the colonists with heavy taxes and oppressive laws, and he was ready to defend these rights. In May 1774 Washington and other Virginia legislators signed the resolutions calling for a Continental Congress. He was elected to the Virginia delegation that attended the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. He also attended the Second Continental Congress in 1775.

Many Continental Congress members demanded independence from Great Britain. In April 1775 skirmishes between British troops and the colonists at Lexington and Concord further intensified colonial hostilities toward Great Britain. Washington was not yet in favor of independence, but he was prepared to support armed resistance against British authority throughout the colonies.

Recognizing Washington’s military experience and leadership, the Continental Congress made him commander in chief of all colonial military forces in June 1775. He asked for no pay beyond his actual expenses because he considered the assignment his duty to protect the rights and values of the citizens whom he served.

Reports of how courageously the colonial militia fought against British soldiers at Bunker Hill in June 1775 gave Washington confidence about the impending war. However, he faced a multitude of hardships as he assembled the Continental Army. His recruits were untrained and poorly paid, terms of army enlistment were short, and his officers frequently quarreled among themselves. Washington persevered to build his army into trained soldiers equipped with adequate supplies.

Washington commanded the respect of his troops through his confidence, poise, and determination as a general. In March 1776 his army staged a siege and eventually expelled British troops from Boston. Washington also instilled a sense of national pride in his troops. He maintained discipline within his army by punishing dishonest soldiers and deserters. At the same time, he attended to the welfare of his men by petitioning to the Continental Congress for better rations and pay.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 (97.34), www. metmuseum.org

In December 1776 Washington’s forces crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and won battles at Trenton and Princeton. The Continental Army gained an advantage in the war with Gen. Horatio Gates’s victory in New York at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777. However, Washington’s army suffered losses against the British forces in Pennsylvania at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown in the fall of 1777. In December 1777 Washington withdrew to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where he set up winter quarters and reorganized his army despite the bitter cold.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital file no. 3g06877)

By 1778 France recognized the United States as an independent nation and sent military support to help Washington’s forces fight the British. In July 1778 a French naval fleet blockaded the British troops in New York City, leaving the British isolated from reinforcements. After 1779 the theater of war shifted to the South with major battles in Charleston, South Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia.

On October 19, 1781, Washington’s army, combined with the French naval fleet and ground troops, staged a siege at Yorktown, Virginia. The commander of the British Army, Gen. Charles Cornwallis, was forced to surrender. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, officially ending the American Revolution. Washington remained with the Continental Congress until December 1783, when he resigned his commission and returned to his home at Mount Vernon.

Washington’s stepdaughter, Patsy, died in 1773, and his stepson, John, died in 1781. George and Martha Washington adopted John’s two children, George and Eleanor Custis. Washington acquired more than 50,000 acres (20,234 hectares) in the western territories, and his farms continued to thrive. He recognized the Potomac River as a great waterway for settlers and trade goods, and he predicted that western territories such as Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio would become states.

Architect of the Capitol

Washington was chosen to preside over the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States government was incapable of governing the instabilities that existed within the states. By July 1788 a new constitution had been drafted and 11 of the 13 states had ratified the United States Constitution. By 1790 the remaining two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, had also ratified the Constitution, and Congress became the governing body of the United States government.

The Presidency

On February 4, 1789, the electors granted all 69 electoral votes to George Washington, thereby unanimously electing him as president of the United States. John Adams was elected vice president. Washington was inaugurated into office on April 30, 1789. His presidency was to be a time of adjustment to a new type of government for the people of the United States.

The newly formed United States government consisted of a legislative branch, the Congress; a judicial branch, the Supreme Court; and an executive branch, which was headed by Washington and included his Cabinet. The first Cabinet members included Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, Henry Knox as secretary of war, Edmund Randolph as attorney general, and Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury. In 1790 Washington approved a permanent location for the United States capital on the Potomac River. The capital was moved from New York City to Philadelphia until the new capital was established.

During Washington’s administration, the authority of the federal government was greatly strengthened. Washington and Alexander Hamilton chartered the Bank of the United States in 1791, and the federal government assumed responsibility for both national and state debts. Taxes were placed on imported goods and certain private property within the states, and money was deposited into the national treasury for paying debts. Also in 1791 the states ratified the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which granted United States citizens their basic rights.

Washington was reelected to a second term as president in 1792, with John Adams again serving as his vice president. Three new states were admitted to the United States during Washington’s administration—Vermont in 1791, Kentucky in 1792, and Tennessee in 1796.

Neutrality Policy

When war broke out between France and Great Britain in 1793, Washington decided that the United States should remain neutral in foreign affairs. Even though the United States owed France a debt for assistance in the American Revolution and had promised to help France in any future conflicts, Washington felt that the United States was not prepared to enter another war so soon. Accordingly, he issued the Proclamation of Neutrality in April 1793, which stated that the United States must maintain a sense of national identity, independent from any other country’s influence. Several future presidents, including James Monroe, followed Washington’s neutrality policy (seeMonroe Doctrine).

Political Parties

National political parties emerged as a result of Washington’s foreign policies. Washington and Alexander Hamilton were opposed to the segregation of the government that political parties created. Hamilton, however, led the Federalist Party with John Adams to support their policies. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson founded the Republican Party (later called the Democratic-Republican Party). The Federalists advocated a strong central government and wanted to maintain close ties with Great Britain. The Republicans were opposed to the authority of a strong national government that decreased the power of state and local governments. Republicans also wanted to preserve their old alliance with France. Washington favored the Federalist ideals of government but worked to sustain a balance between the two parties.

Challenges and Boundary Disputes

The United States government met its first serious domestic challenge with the Whiskey Rebellion in July 1794. Washington set a tax on whiskey to help pay the national debt. Farmers in western Pennsylvania who relied on the income from selling whiskey were outraged by the tax. These farmers resisted the tax by assaulting federal revenue officers. After negotiations between the federal government and the farmers failed, Washington dispatched local state militias and federal troops to quell the rebellion. The national government prevailed over a rebellious adversary and won the support of state governments in enforcing federal law within the states.

Washington’s administration faced boundary disputes with the Native Americans on the western frontier, Great Britain in the northeast and northwest, and Spain in the south. Settlers in the Ohio River valley fought Native Americans over claims on the western frontier boundaries. Washington dispatched an army under the command of Gen. Anthony Wayne to defend the settlements from the Native Americans. Wayne built a chain of forts from Ohio to Indiana to protect the settlements. He finally defeated the Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794.

Washington authorized John Jay, chief justice of the Supreme Court, to negotiate boundary disputes with Great Britain. In the Jay Treaty, signed on November 19, 1794, Great Britain and the United States negotiated the boundaries between the United States and British North America. Great Britain also granted the United States trading privileges with England and the British East Indies.

Thomas Pinckney, an American diplomat, was sent to Spain for negotiations concerning U.S. interests in Spanish-owned territories. Pinckney’s Treaty, signed on October 27, 1795, established the southern boundary of the United States at 31° N. latitude, opened the Mississippi River to U.S. trade through Spanish territories, and granted Americans a tax-free port in New Orleans.

From 1794 to 1798 the Barbary pirates of North Africa attacked U.S. merchant ships in the Atlantic. The Continental Navy, created in 1775 and disbanded in 1784, was restored in 1794 to protect U.S. vessels. Washington signed the Navy’s first commission to John Barry, who was made captain of the frigate United States. In April 1798 Congress created the Department of the Navy.

Final Days in Office

Allyn Cox, Architect of the Capitol

When Washington’s second term ended in 1796, he refused to run for a third term. Washington’s Farewell Address was first published in the American Daily Advertiser, a Philadelphia newspaper, on September 19, 1796. It was written largely by Alexander Hamilton but was remolded by Washington and expressed Washington’s ideas. The address gave the people of the United States Washington’s reasons for not accepting a third term in office. He considered it unwise for one person to hold such a powerful position for so long. All successive U.S. presidents served no more than two terms except Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms. In 1951 the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified and stated: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Washington’s Farewell Address offered his advice to the country on several issues. He denounced the new political party system as divisive and dangerous to the nation’s unity. In foreign affairs, he cautioned his successors to “steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” and not to “entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice.” His warnings laid the foundation for America’s isolationist foreign policy—a national policy of neutrality, or avoiding political or economic entanglements with other countries—which lasted through most of U.S. history before World War II. His warnings also set the stage for the Monroe Doctrine.

Post-Presidential Years

Washington retired to Mount Vernon, where he spent time with his family and resumed the management of his farms and estates. In 1798 an expectation of war with France caused President John Adams to appoint Washington commander in chief of a provisional army. The threat of war diminished, however, and Washington never took command.

Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine

On December 12, 1799, Washington returned home from a horseback ride through his farms in cold, snowy weather. He developed laryngitis and became weak and ill. He died two days later, on December 14, 1799, in his Mount Vernon home and was buried in the family vault at Mount Vernon. John Marshall, who served Washington at Valley Forge, quoted part of a eulogy for Washington by the American Revolutionary officer Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee. The quote exemplified Washington’s place in United States history: “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

In 1800 the United States capital was moved from Philadelphia to the newly developed city of Washington, D.C., named in honor of George Washington. The city is on the Potomac River in an area once part of Maryland and Virginia. George Washington had helped design the layout of the city while in office. In 1853 Congress created the Washington Territory, which became a state in 1889, and named it in memory of the nation’s first president. Thirty-two counties in various states were later named commemorating George Washington. The Washington Monument, in Washington, D.C., is yet another lasting tribute to the man considered by most Americans to be the Father of Their Country.

Additional Reading

Adler, D.A. A Picture Book of George Washington (Holiday House, 1989).
Alden, J.R. George Washington: A Biography (Dell, 1987).
Cunliffe, Marcus. George Washington: Man & Monument (New American Library, 1984).
D’Aulaire, I.M. and D’Aulaire, E.P. George Washington (Doubleday, 1936).
Eaton, Jeanette. Leader by Destiny: George Washington, Man & Patriot (Norwood, 1984).
Falkof, Lucille. George Washington: 1st President of the United States (Garrett, 1989).
Ferling, J.E. The First of Men: A Life of George Washington (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1988).
Freeman, D.S. George Washington: A Biography, 7 vols. (Kelley, 1981).
Kane, J.N. Facts About the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information, 5th ed. (Wilson, 1990).
McGowen, Tom. George Washington (Watts, 1986).
Meltzer, Milton. George Washington and the Birth of Our Nation (Watts, 1986).
Stevenson, Augusta. George Washington: Young Leader (Aladdin, 1986).

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